This is a spoiler-free review! Do You Want Me? is currently available for free on Kindle. You can read my reviews of It's Our Secret and A Single Glance on my blog.
Stuff Your Kindle Day strikes again with this final read of 2023 for me -- honestly, I did not even read the description before downloading -- I saw W. Winters and immediately hit download. As a prequel novella to a series, I was hoping to learn a little background on our main characters before deciding to continue on with the series. For the other books I have read by this author, I have been a one and done reader, with the possibility of returning to the series once I tackle more of my physical TBR pile.
Delilah has a lot of stressors in her life, not to mention the man she parted ways with finally coming back into her life years later. This novella takes us two years prior to the prologue, exploring Delilah's complicated life, along with perspectives from Cody, a detective, and Marcus, the man that just will not stop from making Delilah his own, but only in the future books.
We spend most of the time in Delilah's perspective, with the occasional appearance by Cody and just a dash of Marcus to add to the mix. I wish we spent more time with Marcus in his perspective -- he is so important to the story, yet we barely had two chapters of his thoughts, most of which focused on Cody rather than Delilah. Winters does provide readers with a decent amount of background information considering this is a prequel novella, but I do believe it could have been fifty pages longer, just to really seal the deal with how Delilah and Marcus are connected.
If the author included just a touch more bit of action or suspense in the prequel, it would have really engaged readers to keep moving forward. I took a few breaks while reading this short installment, only because I was not itching to finish it in one sitting, and the way that the plot was moving, I could tell there was not going to be a wild third act or final chapter. Looking back at how the novella started with the prologue, I would have loved to circle back to that moment at the end of the story.
The multiple perspectives did give the story a more well-rounded sense, especially when readers are able to get a wisp of how Delilah, Cody, and Marcus are connected. It was refreshing to see a main character that has some semblance of self preservation and a decent amount of common sense. Delilah is definitely one of the more structured adult female characters that I have encountered when reading romantic suspense novels.
I would not go far enough to say that this was suspenseful, or even wavering on the edge of dark romance, but that just may be due to the fact that the story is just getting started. Winters alludes to Delilah having some big secret or terrible past a number of times in the novella, but never goes further than having it as a lingering thought from Delilah -- I wish we could have gotten just a crumb of what happened. I am interested enough in this story to continue on, but I would not consider it one of my top priorities.
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